1. Field of the Invention
The systems and methods disclosed herein relate generally to contrast enhancement of images and video.
2. Description of the Related Art
Contrast enhancement is used to make images and video look “better” or more pleasing to the viewer, typically by enhancing details that are found in darker portions of an image. Methods for contrast enhancement range from very simple and non-content adaptive solutions (e.g., luma stretch, gamma curves) to very complex solutions (true localized methods, e.g., large scale unsharp masking or window-based histogram equalization). However, when the intensity values of an image already span the entire intensity range, some of these schemes may not be effective. Some of these schemes may also cause brightness shifts in large regions of the picture which is not desirable.